Maggie Humm, vice-chair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, has pushed back against claims that the author's vicious diary entry about disabled people reflects her firm beliefs. In a letter responding to a recent article by John Harris, Humm argues the entry is a defence mechanism and projection.
Under the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, Woolf herself could have been categorised as an “imbecile” during her several breakdowns, which were triggered by family deaths and childhood sexual abuse. Her own experiences with coercive medical treatment and private asylums, Humm notes, left her acutely aware of this possibility, as illustrated in her novel Mrs Dalloway.
Humm contends that the diary entry caricatures others' features to displace Woolf's personal fears. Rather than revealing grim ideas about eugenics, the entry serves as a psychological safeguard against her own vulnerability to being labelled and institutionalised.
